1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to gunpowder cartridge refilling system-related reservoirs. The present invention is more particularly related to housings for a reservoir of propellant in a powder measure.
2. Description of Prior Art
Propellant dispensers are known in the art to include a refillable propellant reservoir stationed over a measure meter for determining the appropriate amount of propellant and utilizing gravity to dispense the same for a bullet cartridge. The reservoir is commonly known as a hopper, containing a propellant (or “powder”). Powder measures, as they are known in the art, typically include a vertically tubular reservoir housing atop a measure and dispensing device. A typical hopper will include gunpowder or a specific grain size and grain weight. Typically grains-per-load includes the number of grains to meet a specific weight to be dispensed with each throw of a powder measure lever.
The reservoir housing, or commonly known as hopper, walls are typically made from a substantially optically transparent material such as a plastic of a polycarbonate or polysulfone, or otherwise transparent material. While some housings or hoppers are opaque, it is preferable to include a hopper that provides a translucent wall to allow a user to determine the amount of propellant left in the hopper. Therefore, opaque hopper housings have been known to include at least one or more windowed port to enable viewing of the contents held therein. Transparent plastic housings are often preferred as an economical and inexpensive method of manufacturing a powder measure reservoir. While opaque housings are known in the art, provision of such opaque housings may be less common, more expensive, and/or more difficult to construct with various windows.
As many common powder measure hoppers include a transparent plastic reservoir wall, the reservoir walls are subject to clouding when propellant or other substances typically adhere to the internal surface of reservoir walls. Hoppers may also include a tinted transparent material, for instance a red translucent plastic, that may provide more contrast to make viewing of the contents of the hopper more readily apparent. Tinted windows typically mollify the negative aspects of a cloudy hopper wall, while still allowing transparency to the user but suffer from the same conditions. Plastic hopper walls are often subject to ultraviolet radiation which further degrades or impacts the clarity of the hopper walls. As the hopper walls are degraded from ultraviolet radiation, the walls can become cloudy, brittle, or may even fail. Hopper walls may also be made of glass, making for an easily clouded surface and risk of fragile breakage. A padded cover can alleviate some issues associated with glass walled hoppers.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cover for tubular walls within a hopper reservoir.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for protection of a hopper reservoir.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide for a cover for a hopper including a window aperture.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide for a removable tag and indicator on a cover for a powder measure hopper.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide for ornamentation of powder measure hoppers.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description thereof proceeds.